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132 Haris Zuan

force in Malaysia and raises the question: has youth activism, which tends
toward ‘small p’ informal politics, in Francis Loh’s terms (2018), embraced
‘big P’ formal Politics?

Political Parties and Political Education for Youth
Reformasi launched a new trend—or reinvigorated e orts—toward political
education, initially under the aegis of independent youth organisations, many
of them connected with universities and involving mahasiswa (undergraduates).
is phenomenon is partly because of the restrictions faced by youth inside
and outside campuses. e introduction of the University and University
Colleges Act (UUCA) 1971 prohibited students from political activity.
Meanwhile outside campuses, most youth organisations—whether seemingly
political or not (including sports associations)—are dominated by politicians.
In response to the lack of democratic space in the public realm, for the last 20
years, youth social and political activism has evolved to favour small groups
with informal structures in order to navigate the political barriers set up by the
state. rough these activities, youths have sought more meaningful modes of
participation, in which they are free to explore and discuss various issues, have
full control of the programme, and are involved in every stage of decision-
making processes. ese are values they hardly can experience in more formal
organisations, be they youth organisations or political parties. e popularity
of this approach persuaded Malaysian political parties from both sides to set
up their own versions of ‘youth activism’ via political education, moves that
could be seen as e orts by political parties either to empower or co-opt youth.
Since Reformasi in 1998, a few youth and student groups have been seen
as pro-opposition and critical of the government. Some of these groups,
such as Universiti Bangsar Utama (UBU, referring to a neighbourhood near
the University of Malaya), Gerakan Mahasiswa Lantang Negara (National
Movement of Outspoken Students), and the Malaysia Youth and Students
Democratic Movement (DEMA), emerged as reactions against the restricted
democratic space both on and o campus (Haris 2012, 2013, 2014; Fauzi
and Haris 2014). Despite being perceived as oppositional and having some
of their leaders—such as Lee Khai Loon from DEMA, now a Parti Keadilan
Rakyat (PKR, People’s Justice Party) state legislator—make the jump to formal
partisan politics, these groups have always maintained their distance from
political parties and have wanted to be seen as independent.
During this period, opposition political parties, except for Parti Islam
SeMalaysia (Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, PAS), rarely organised programmes

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